Help with an older Creative SB X-Fi on Win10

kittmaster

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 27, 2004
Messages
316
I'm wondering if anyone had any thoughts on how to solve the Line In/Mic input issue I'm having. I am using driver 6.0.240.26 dated 4/26/2019. Win 10 has all the latest and greatest updates...and Creative's site shows EOL.

I have my work laptop using the Line-In to my main desktop for work from home meetings and using my main desktop speakers to cover both the main desktop and work laptop audio via the 3.5mm headphones from work laptop to the Line-in of the X-Fi.

The issue I'm seeing is that on boot and the desktop loaded I get high gain noise and static which is very notable (with volume level at 10 out of 100) from the right channel after Win 10 fully loads. It only happens on reboot and fine until the next restart. The "fix" is to right click the sound icon in the right side taskbar > Sounds > Playback > Select "Speakers (Default device)" > Levels > Line-In/Mic option volume slider / level / mute / balance.............. If I 'mute' it......the noise ramps down and is totally gone....then I "unmute" it ....the laptop sounds work as expected and there is no noise at all.

It is a simple annoyance but I can't seem to find any way to solve this issue. If I had a batch script at startup to "mute" it and then "unmute" it accordingly via a registration option....that might work....but I think the speaker properties dialog is what is sending commands to the PCB to fix some issue on the default load values of the card.

Anyone have any idea on how I could solve this issue or what the root cause may be? I've never updated the cards firmware, nor do I even know if it is possible.

Thanks,
Chris
 
I ran into a similar issue on Linux with a PCI XFi. The PCM capture switch would always be on at boot, but ALSA would think it was off. Toggling the switch on and off after reboot would take care of the issue; a oneshot systemd unit worked well to accomplish this.

You should be able to do something similar on Windows by using SoundVolumeView to toggle the switch and the Windows task scheduler to run the script on boot.
 
Was it ever sorted as to the core issue like firmware or the driver itself?

It is odd that it only affects the right channel and not the left.
 
I don't know when the PCM capture switch issue started on my card. I noticed it a few years ago and applied the bandaid solution. I don't think the first gen X-Fi ALSA driver has changed substantially in over a decade.

IIRC other users have had trouble with Windows 10 + X-Fi. It may be worth taking a look at Daniel_K's modified drivers as another option: https://danielkawakami.blogspot.com/.
 
Which X-Fi card do you have exactly? There were quite a few different models. I still use many X-Fi cards and have not had many problems. That is a very odd problem you are having, especially since it only affects one channel. All of my computer are running windows 11 now (even the computers that don't officially support it), and the Windows 10 driver from 2019 still works great.

One thing I would suggest is to enable the onboard sound on your desktop. I don't know what motherboard you have but 98% of them have at least some form of onboard sound. You could then use the line-input from the onboard sound instead. You could do this while still having your X-Fi as the primary output, as there is nothing preventing you from using different devices for input vs output.

Another thing you could try, depending on the model X-Fi you have, would be to see if you can pass the signal from your laptop to your desktop via SPDIF. Many X-Fi models had a digital input, and if your laptop has a digital output, that would be a much cleaner way to pass the signal instead of the unnecessary digital to analog and analog to digital conversions taking place with your existing configuration.
 
The only major annoyance I really have with my X-Fi card is the fact that the Master volume control does absolutely nothing. Mind you, I am using SPD/IF output and Dolby Digital Live encoding to a DDL 5.1 receiver. It has other quirks, but that is the big one that annoys me - and according to Creative it's not even a bug, but the "normal and expected" behavior for this configuration.
 
Which X-Fi card do you have exactly? There were quite a few different models. I still use many X-Fi cards and have not had many problems. That is a very odd problem you are having, especially since it only affects one channel. All of my computer are running windows 11 now (even the computers that don't officially support it), and the Windows 10 driver from 2019 still works great.

One thing I would suggest is to enable the onboard sound on your desktop. I don't know what motherboard you have but 98% of them have at least some form of onboard sound. You could then use the line-input from the onboard sound instead. You could do this while still having your X-Fi as the primary output, as there is nothing preventing you from using different devices for input vs output.

Another thing you could try, depending on the model X-Fi you have, would be to see if you can pass the signal from your laptop to your desktop via SPDIF. Many X-Fi models had a digital input, and if your laptop has a digital output, that would be a much cleaner way to pass the signal instead of the unnecessary digital to analog and analog to digital conversions taking place with your existing configuration.

The unit model is stated as SB0880....... shown here: https://smile.amazon.com/Creative-SB0880-Express-Blaster-Titanium/dp/B001E25KDK?sa-no-redirect=1

I am running on a dinosaur: https://smile.amazon.com/ASUS-P6X58D-Premium-1366-Motherboard/dp/B002WSHXQ2?sa-no-redirect=1

I have used the onboard audio before, I know it works...so I enabled both and are ok in DM.

I plugged the laptop into the line in on the onboard audio, have it set to "listen" in recording, playback via the default audio which is set the SB X-FI....yet I get no sound from the laptop. I verified the headphone output because it works plugging it back into the X-Fi....lol.

So not sure why the line in on the onboard audio isn't working even though Win10 says all good....that would have been a neat trick if I can get it to work.
 
So not sure why the line in on the onboard audio isn't working even though Win10 says all good....that would have been a neat trick if I can get it to work.

I got it to work, it seems that in Win 10, you have to enable Microphone In Access to allow the line in to work via svchost.exe...I got it working with the onboard audio in and SB X-Fi as the main speaker outs...will see how it goes with the X-Fi settings muted and rebooting.
 
I am updating this for the sake of a final outcome.

Using the onboard audio as the line in source and the SB X-Fi as the main audio card to my Alesis M1 Active Mk2's has worked out pretty good. It is really a lame work around from the perspective having to have 2 sound cards to have no noise floor and both systems linked.....but ultimately making this ancient hardware (ASUS P6X58D Premium - LGA 1366 - X58 - DDR3) I'm using working from home a joy.

Thanks to everyone who commented and helped out with a solution, life is good!

Best to all.

Regards,
Chris
 
I am updating this for the sake of a final outcome.

Using the onboard audio as the line in source and the SB X-Fi as the main audio card to my Alesis M1 Active Mk2's has worked out pretty good. It is really a lame work around from the perspective having to have 2 sound cards to have no noise floor and both systems linked.....but ultimately making this ancient hardware (ASUS P6X58D Premium - LGA 1366 - X58 - DDR3) I'm using working from home a joy.

Thanks to everyone who commented and helped out with a solution, life is good!

Best to all.

Regards,
Chris
Kudos to you man. I ran x79 for a long time and got very annoyed in 10 early on. I've since moved on to Ryzen 5000 series, but I can only imaging dragging x58 into the modern era kicking and screaming lol.
 
This is normal. Optical should be maxing out the volume to whatever DAC you’re using, and the DAC device is where you adjust the volume.
The only major annoyance I really have with my X-Fi card is the fact that the Master volume control does absolutely nothing. Mind you, I am using SPD/IF output and Dolby Digital Live encoding to a DDL 5.1 receiver. It has other quirks, but that is the big one that annoys me - and according to Creative it's not even a bug, but the "normal and expected" behavior for this configuration.
 
This is normal. Optical should be maxing out the volume to whatever DAC you’re using, and the DAC device is where you adjust the volume.

That is all well and good except for a few things:

1) The receiver is not within within easy reach of my normal computing position.

2) Master Volume Control, by definition, should ALWAYS control the Master Volume.

3) My Auzentech X-Meridian 7.1 output Dolby Digital Live 5.1 over optical and controlled the Master Volume just fine. If the card was PCIe, I'd still be using it because it is the single best sounding sound card I have ever owned. It uses a CMI chip.

4) My Asus Asus Xonar U3 can also output Dolby Digital Live 5.1 over optical and control the Master Volume just fine. That device is on a different computer. It also uses a (different) CMI chip.

I'd buy a newer Creative card since there aren't a lot of options out there that both sound good AND output Dolby Digital Live 5.1 while plugging into a PCIe slot anymore, but asking around, the problem isn't fixed because they don't acknowledge it to even be a problem. For my use case, it IS a problem. Every time I run a new program that produces sound, I have to tolerate really loud audio until I can either change the Windows audio control for the individual program, or change the program's own audio settings.

Is it a big enough problem for me to stop using my Auzentech HomeTheatre (it uses Creative's X-Fi chip)? No.
Is it a big enough problem to prevent me from buying a newer, better supported card from Creative? Absolutely yes.
 
I
That is all well and good except for a few things:

1) The receiver is not within within easy reach of my normal computing position.

2) Master Volume Control, by definition, should ALWAYS control the Master Volume.

3) My Auzentech X-Meridian 7.1 output Dolby Digital Live 5.1 over optical and controlled the Master Volume just fine. If the card was PCIe, I'd still be using it because it is the single best sounding sound card I have ever owned. It uses a CMI chip.

4) My Asus Asus Xonar U3 can also output Dolby Digital Live 5.1 over optical and control the Master Volume just fine. That device is on a different computer. It also uses a (different) CMI chip.

I'd buy a newer Creative card since there aren't a lot of options out there that both sound good AND output Dolby Digital Live 5.1 while plugging into a PCIe slot anymore, but asking around, the problem isn't fixed because they don't acknowledge it to even be a problem. For my use case, it IS a problem. Every time I run a new program that produces sound, I have to tolerate really loud audio until I can either change the Windows audio control for the individual program, or change the program's own audio settings.

Is it a big enough problem for me to stop using my Auzentech HomeTheatre (it uses Creative's X-Fi chip)? No.
Is it a big enough problem to prevent me from buying a newer, better supported card from Creative? Absolutely yes.
don’t think there has been any new, hardware based X-Fi card since forever. Your receiver/external DAC, there are some nice new ones with remote control. Also, have you considered buying a PCI to PCI-E adapter of sorts to use your older PCI soundcards?
 
I

don’t think there has been any new, hardware based X-Fi card since forever. Your receiver/external DAC, there are some nice new ones with remote control. Also, have you considered buying a PCI to PCI-E adapter of sorts to use your older PCI soundcards?

No, there have not been any new X-Fi cards in quite a while, but Creative does make newer (non X-Fi) cards that support DDL 5.1 Encoding. The X-Fi cards have been dragged (reluctantly) all the way from the Windows XP era into the late Windows 10/Windows 11 era and Creative is unlikely to issue any further driver updates for them. Frankly, we are lucky to have gotten what we have. Honestly, if it comes to it and the Auzentech HomeTheatre finally becomes unusable, then I'll probably just get another Xonar U3. It doesn't do some of the things the X-Fi cards do such as Crystalizer and ALchemy, but it also "just works."

After I upgraded away from my Asus Prime B350-Plus board (1st gen Ryzen board, one of only 3 boards released that I know of that actually still had genuine PCI slots on them), I looked at PCIe to PCI adapters, and though rare, there were a couple out there. The trick with it is getting it to mount in your case in a way that is secure AND doesn't look like total ass. I gave up on it and just went with the HomeTheatre cards. It was a sad, sad day when Auzentech folded... IMHO, they really did make some of the overall best audio cards out there.
 
The X-Fi cards have been dragged (reluctantly) all the way from the Windows XP era into the late Windows 10/Windows 11 era and Creative is unlikely to issue any further driver updates for them. Frankly, we are lucky to have gotten what we have

I really do not understand the need for the unnecessarily hostile and pessimistic attitude about the Creative X-Fi driver situation. The fact that you can still use a piece of hardware 10-15+ years after it was released means that it was "dragged (reluctantly)" into the current era? As opposed to what, planned obsolescence years earlier? As if that would have been better somehow? Most hardware works fine with Windows 11 using drivers going all the way back to Windows Vista (64-bit). Having a Creative X-Fi driver from 2019 is not a bad spot to be in.
 
I've surprisingly not had much resistance from my X-Fi after all these years. When you do a Windows feature update or upgrade (ex: 10 -> 11), you typically have to reinstall the driver packs or you'll lose the EAX functionality (ALchemy won't do its job). However...

EAX is now, or is in the process of being, fully run in software without a Creative card. This is done using DSOAL and OpenAL-Soft, but I don't think they've created a binary in a long time, so you would need to compile whatever is available on github or find a trusted binary. There was a newer OpenAL-Soft binary nested somewhere in its github page and I was able to get DOOM 3, Quake 4, and other games using the EAX HD function while outputting through my Nvidia GPU's HDMI audio out and having my X-Fi completely disabled via Device Manager.

OpenAL-Soft: https://github.com/kcat/openal-soft
DSOAL: https://github.com/kcat/dsoal

I think that you need to use OpenAL-Soft in conjunction with DSOAL in some games that would use DirectSound to look for EAX (similar to ALchemy's function), but OpenAL-Soft's DLL seems to work well with the later EAX titles (EAX 4/5?) that use OpenAL/EFX (Killing Floor, Postal 2, DOOM 3, Quake 4, Prey, etc.).

Based on the info on the OALS githib page, it looks like the source to EAX may have been released. After the hardware-based cards were discontinued (post-X-Fi?), I guess it was done using software anyway, so the source for that was made available.
 
I really do not understand the need for the unnecessarily hostile and pessimistic attitude about the Creative X-Fi driver situation. The fact that you can still use a piece of hardware 10-15+ years after it was released means that it was "dragged (reluctantly)" into the current era? As opposed to what, planned obsolescence years earlier? As if that would have been better somehow? Most hardware works fine with Windows 11 using drivers going all the way back to Windows Vista (64-bit). Having a Creative X-Fi driver from 2019 is not a bad spot to be in.

You have entirely mischaracterized the tone of my post. The implication is "I am GLAD I have modern drivers for the card, but it very likely isn't going to get any more" with a subtext of "They would really have rather you'd just bought new hardware, but since there a LOT of these still in service and they promised Windows 10 support, they felt obligated to update their drivers again after Microsoft broke compatibility with the old drivers. But they pretty much indicated this was the end of the line for X-Fi." It isn't hostile, it is just honest. And, still honestly, I will continue to use the card until I can't. I abhor eWaste and the newer Creative cards don't do anything worthy of an upgrade beyond offer better driver support going forward. Right now, that does not justify the expense of replacing the card. When I can no longer use the X-Fi card, I will replace it with a device that gives me Master Volume Control over the DDL 5.1 Optical. Sadly right now, this does not include any product from Creative.

IF Creative manufactured a card that did what I want right now, I'd buy it right now. Their hardware quality has come a long ways since their X-Fi and Audigy days from what I hear. The sound Quality of my Auzentech HomeTheatre is amazing - and was touted by Creative themselves at the time as being the top-end X-Fi card out there despite them not being the ones that actually manufactured it. Creative has also demonstrated unexpectedly exceptional commitment to their X-Fi products by releasing this last set of drivers for them; this would normally incline me to buy more of their products. But, a working Master Volume over DDL 5.1 Optical is the only feature I really want from them. None of the features Creative has touted since the X-Fi do anything for my use case. I realize that we DDL 5.1 over Optical people were never more than a vocal niche to begin with, but this is why I haven't given them any more money. Newer cards just don't make any significant improvement for my use case over what I already have, so when the time comes (unless things change) it won't be Creative getting the money. And that is a shame for the reasons posted above.
 
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